1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to testing structures and processes for wireless or RF (radio frequency) communications systems. More particularly, the invention relates to structures and processes that provide near-field transmit power measurement of MIMO wireless devices and systems.
2. Description of the Background Art
Single-input single-output (SISO) wireless devices have been developed and implemented for many years, to transmit and/or receive desired signals to/from other elements, to provide wireless connectivity and communication between devices in a wireless network, such as in a wireless PAN (personal area network), a wireless LAN (local area network) a wireless WAN (wide area network), a cellular network, or virtually any other radio network or system. Such SISO devices may operate over a wide variety of frequency bands, such as but not limited to 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands. Test systems and standardized test models have also been developed and implemented over the years for SISO wireless devices.
However, the growing demand for increased bandwidth, i.e. requirements for increased data transfer, has driven the development of multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) devices.
In production testing environments, the overall cost per unit decreases as the time required to test each of the units is decreased. However, a decrease in the time to test each unit should not compromise the quality of the test results, which may otherwise result in a higher percentage of product failures that necessitate any of product returns or product repairs.
While numerous systems and standardized models have been developed for the testing of SISO devices, there are currently no standard systems and models to adequately test the entire range of parameters that constitute the performance of multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) devices.
For example, there are currently no standard systems and models to efficiently test the near-field transmit power measurement of multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) devices.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a system, structure and method that provide adequate near-field transmit power measurement for MIMO devices for a variety of operating conditions. Such a system and process would constitute a major technological advance.